THE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

Sit on a fit­ness ball, with your feet placed a com­fort­able dis­tance apart and flat on the floor. You can place your hands on your knees for sup­port. Now rock from side to side. Your birth part­ner can mas­sage your shoul­ders and back to ease pain fur­ther.

How does it work?

The mo­tion of rock­ing is calm­ing and helps you fo­cus, so it can be sooth­ing dur­ing the tran­si­tional stage. “This can be the most shock­ing stage for part­ners,” says Megan. “The mum-to-be can be­come ag­i­tated and lose fo­cus, so it’s im­por­tant that she has some­one there to en­cour­age and help her through it.”